By far the most popular type of garment bag used in traveling is the type which includes a hook to hang or suspend the open garment bag from a closet rod or from an upper edge of an open door. With the garment bag suspended vertically from the hook, the user obtains convenient access to the personal clothing items which are suspended or hung on hangers within the garment bag. The popularity of these types of garment bags can be attributed to a considerable degree to the ease of packing and unpacking the garment bag, to the general convenience of using the garment bag without unpacking it, and to the relative ease of transporting the garment bag by folding it into a convenient size for carrying by hand or by a shoulder strap.
In order to obtain the conveniences of suspending the garment bag vertically, a hook must be provided at an upper edge of the garment bag. The hook is generally accessible from the exterior of the garment bag because it is necessary to lift the garment bag by the hook to place the hook over the closet rod or the door edge. Generally, the garment bag will be unfolded from its closed position on a bed or other horizontal surface. Thereafter the hook is grasped and the garment bag is lifted by the hook to the closet rod or the door edge. By making the hook available on the exterior of the bag, the user can suspend the bag before it is opened and its interior contents are exposed. Similarly, the bag may be fully packed and closed before the garment bag is lifted off of the closet rod or door edge by gripping the hook and carried to a horizontal surface where it is laid flat prior to folding it over into the closed position.
One of the difficulties associated with placing the hook on the exterior of the garment bag is that it is exposed when the bag is in the closed position during transportation. The hook cannot hang loosely from the bag in the closed position because it is likely to catch on objects and create an inconvenience during transportation. Consequently, a number of different techniques have evolved for attempting to keep the hook in place when the garment bag is closed during transportation.
One technique to keep the hook in place when the garment bag is closed involves placing the hook through a loop. It is anticipated that the loop will hold the hook during transportation of the garment bag. Sometimes the loop is placed on an adjoining opposite edge of the folded garment bag (the lower edge when the garment bag is vertically suspended) to allow the hook to span between the opposite edges and help hold the garment bag in the closed position. Unfortunately the exposure of the hook while in the loop, and the relative flexibility of the garment bag, allows the hook to become relatively easily dislodged from the loop under common circumstances.
Another technique for retaining the hook involves the incorporation of a resilient spring in a handle to which the hook is connected. The hook is connected to a retainer or stud, which is in turn connected on the edge of the garment bag. It is anticipated that the spring bias in the handle of the hook will create a sufficient force to hold the hook against the retainer and prevent accidental external forces from dislodging the hook from the retainer. While this approach has achieved some success, the almost complete exposure of the hook against the retainer provides the opportunity for the hook to be dislodged when exposed to unanticipated forces during transportation.
Another approach which utilizes spring forces to retain the hook and which attempts to conceal a substantial portion of the hook from unanticipated forces during transportation involves retracting the hook into an interior receptacle extending into the garment bag. A bias spring supplies the retraction force. When the user desires to extend the hook and suspend the garment bag, the hook is withdrawn from the receptacle against the force of the spring. While this approach is generally effective in preventing accidental dislodgement and exposure of the hook, this approach requires the receptacle to extend into the interior of the garment bag and consume space which would otherwise be more effectively used for hanging or packing garments. Since the receptacle generally must be located in the center of an upper edge of the garment bag if the garment bag is to be equally suspended on both sides of the hook, the receptacle interferes with the normal location where a trolley or suspension device is positioned to receive the hooks of the clothes hangers upon which the clothes are suspended.
It is with respect to these and other considerations applicable to prior art garment bags that the present invention has evolved.